Voting deadline

The deadline to apply to register to vote in the Nov. 7 general election is this Monday, Oct. 16. The simplest way (granted you have Internet access) to either register or else update your address information is to visit the Virginia Department of Elections (ELECT) website at elections.virginia.gov.

Customers may also apply to register at the registrar’s office on Gay Street in Washington or at any of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) customer service centers. Citizens are not registered to vote until a paper or online voter registration application is approved by the registrar. Once an application is approved, a registration confirmation letter will be snail mailed.

To be eligible to register to vote in Virginia you must be a resident of the state, a U.S. citizen, 18 years old (any person who is 17 and will be 18 by Nov. 7 may register), not be registered and/or plan to vote in any other state, and “not currently be declared mentally incompetent by a court of law.”